Introduction

This document will guide you through installing the Intel® Atom™ x86 image for Android* KitKat, which can be used for development on Intel’s x86 architecture.

Prerequisites

The Android x86 Emulator Image requires the Android SDK to be installed. For instructions on installing and configuring the Android SDK, refer to the Android developer website (http://developer.android.com/sdk/).

Installation

Downloading through Android SDK Manager

Review the Intel Corporation license agreement. If you accept the terms, select Accept and click Install.

The SDK Manager will download and extract the system image to the appropriate location within the Android SDK directory.

Using the System Image

Start the Android AVD Manager and create a new AVD, setting "Target" to "Android 4.4 – API Level 19", and "CPU/ABI" to "Intel Atom (x86)".
The Intel Atom x86 Image for Android KitKat can make use of hardware GPU features to increase the performance of games, graphics-intensive programs, and user interface elements. For the best performance make sure to check the "Use Host GPU" Box when creating the image.Note:The functionality and performance of GPU acceleration is highly dependent on your computer’s graphics card and graphics drivers. GPU acceleration must be enabled on a per AVD basis.

Note: if the "Intel Atom (x86)" CPU/ABI option is not available, make sure that the system image is installed correctly.

Click the "Create AVD" button.

The AVD has been successfully created and is now ready to use:

Optimization

CPU Acceleration

The performance of the Intel Atom x86 Image for Android KitKat can be improved with hardware-based virtualization using Intel VT-x technology.

If your computer has an Intel processor with VT-x support, it is recommended that Intel Hardware Acceleration Execution Manager (HAXM) be used in conjunction with this system image. For more information about Intel HAXM, visit http://software.intel.com/en-us/android.

Note: Intel HAXM is for Windows and OS X operating systems only. For Linux hosts, Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) can be used to accelerate emulation performance. For information on installing and configuring KVM on Ubuntu, refer to this guide: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/Installation